Just joined, after a miserable time logging my daily food info on FitDay. Considering taking a Jazzercise class, so if anyone has any input (good or bad), I'm all ears! Coming up on 1 year of post-baby overweight, on top of years of built-up overweight to begin with.. tired of feeling miserable, and feeling tired. I don't have the time or money to invest in gym memberships, so am looking for a more do-it-myself *~or~* quick method that I can turn into a routine (eg. 30-minute Jazzercise x 3 times a week, possibly). Bored with walking, and now it's too cold to do it outdoors.. indoor track is too far to drive for me.

Looking forward to sharing stories, and learning what I can to help me help myself, as well as try to help others.

I have a 1-year old son, and I work full-time (daddy does the at-home daycare for DS, am I lucky or what?) Endless battles against the vending machine, and the elevator vs. stairs on a regular basis.

So, that's me..

Hi!

Hi JustStarDust!
You're right, Daddy is a keeper!- I know it all feels overwhelming and frustrating, just take it a step at a time, small changes can lead to great results - the support you need is here to achieve your goal of a healthier and happier you - we'll all be here to cheer you on.

Glad to have you join us! There are lots & lots of different groups and forums - I'm sure you'll find some that will keep you motivated and inspired - you'll be a wonderful addition to any of them. Try the weight loss support forums, they're active and very helpful - there's lots of info and first hand advice on various exercise options to help choose what's right for you in the Fitness section - also the Success stories are a definite must for motivation.

There are bunches of people here with more to lose and some with less - the bottom line is that we all have to do it a day at a time. The good thing is that we'll have lots of company along the way.

I've only been here since last fall, having NEVER been part of an online forum. What has been so eye-opening is how much it has helped me. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or defeated, I just log on and read some of the success stories, complete with their before & after photos - or read about others still dealing day to day with their challenges - and before I know it, the time has flown by and so have all the thoughts of going off track or giving up. It has made all the difference in my success so far.

So welcome - you 've found the right place - join in by inspiring us and being inspired!

All the best - good luck with your goals,
Lee

Welcome, Juststardust!
I get tired just reading about your life!
Best of luck as you work towards your goal.
Judy

Thanks for the warm welcome, gals! I've started a blog, too, to try to keep myself in check.. I set it up under the same name as my username here.

Hope you have a great day!

I don't have the patience to perfectly log calories, it is just too hard with some things. But then I realized that at least for me the main point of logging calories was to get a sense of where I was "wasting" calories and where things were really out of wack.

I personally have received tremendous benefit from tracking calories, but I don't try to track perfectly, I only try to track everything. In some cases I find it easier to search for food that someone else has input and approximate even if it is not perfect. And often I don't perfectly measure my food, but I try to approximate (err on the side of overestimating).

I found this to be light years faster and therefore something that I could stick with. The other major committment was to do it even on bad days. I tracked New Years Eve when I broke 4k calories, that was painful. Every time I look at my graph and see that huge spike it is a reminder.

Obviously the consequence of this is that you are almost guaranteed to be slightly off at the end of the day. But if it helps me stick to say 1800 calories (+ or - 200 due to tracking "errors") how much better is that than 3500 calories?

I'm not sure I'm explaining it right, but in many cases doing something in a manner that is functional is better than doing it "perfectly" and quitting after a week.